Above: Cover of Rogue Economics by Loretta Napoleoni. A controversial new treatise on contemporary global phenomena, see this review by Russ Juskalian
for USA Today.

From the article: “Her logic can be hard to follow. It goes something like this: Communism gave way to capitalism with the fall of the Soviet Union. Economic forces moved faster and with more power than governmental or social forces. Next, organized crime and greedy businesses stepped in to create a world that looks “normal” but is actually based on corruption and misconduct — for instance, the average American doesn’t see contemporary slavery behind the products he consumes. The upshot: The future will see the emergence of a new social contract dictated by the rising powers of China, India and the Middle East.”

Sounds like fascinating material, however, Juskalian dismisses the central premise of the book, and compares it’s operating argument to Marxism with this excellent conclusion, “Instead of a useful survey of the negative forces operating in the world’s economy, Napoleoni tries to convince us that the natural progression of economics is away from Western capitalism toward an Islamic system of capitalism, which she doesn’t adequately explain.

This is akin to the Marxist mantra that communism is the inevitable final state of all social and economic systems.”

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Aha! The Internationale! (Performed by the choir and orchestra of the Bolshoi Theater, conducted by G. Rozhdestvensky, 1977.)